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Monday, July 31, 2017

NEW YORK : Controversial riding-sharing company Uber, plans to launch its own credit card, partnering with the British bank Barclays.

The card will be coming later this year, Barclays said last week.

Uber would be the first of the riding-sharing companies to have a co-branded credit card, which are a popular way for companies to cement customer loyalty. They typically give points or credits toward awards, with the most popular cards offering airlines and hotels.

Uber rival Lyft has a partnership with Delta that offers miles, though it's not via a card.

No details about terms or rewards on the Ubercards were available yet, though the awards seem likely to go toward ride credit. Earlier this year, Uber partnered with American Express to give Platinum Card customers a $200-a-year credit toward free rides.

London Taxis say they may refuse to take Ubercards and American Express in future.

teenager has been arrested after a taxi driver had an unknown substance sprayed in his eyes, causing serious injuries.

The attack happened in High Wycombe when the driver caught up with three people who left his black Toyota Prius on George Street without paying at around 1am on Sunday.

A 15-year-old boy was later arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The victim, 43, is in hospital and police are still trying to identify what was sprayed in his eyes.

"This is an unprovoked attack on a working man who was going about his evening shift as a taxi driver," said Detective Chief Inspector Kelly Glister.

"It is cowardly for a group to attack an individual, especially when they use a weapon."

"The offenders are three black males aged between about 16 and 18 years old," added Inspector Glister.

"I understand that this attack will cause great concern in the local community but I want to reassure the public that the Thames Valley Police is conducting a thorough investigation and is determined to find the offenders."

Police are appealing for anyone with information about the attack to contact them on 101, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

IT would appear that while Licensed Taxi driver have been thrown out of work, then charged unlawfully for temporary licenses, TfL have been renewing Private Hire licenses without first seeing results of DBS checks

Letter obtained by Dads Defending Daughters 2016.

Over the weekend, Taxi Leaks receive an email from regular contributor Greenbadgejohn, stating that he has had to pay £13 for a temporary licence while waiting for his renewal to be issued by TfL.

It is our belief that this charge was unnecessary and should be refunded immediately. Leon Daniels in a reply to Taxi Leaks editor on behalf of then commissioner Peter Hendy (Feb 16 2015) -regarding the Transport Act 1985 sec 17(7)- clearly states that no temporary licence in necessary, as the old license remains valid until the driver is in receipt of the new licence (as long as all procedures have been complied with).

Reading Johns email, it would appear he complied fully with the Transport Act terms and should not have been charged for a temporary licence but told to carry on with old licence that stays valid until he is in receipt of renewal.

Greenbadgejohn's Email:

In an email sent to Taxi Leaks a driver alleges that he complied with the 4 month advance time frames to necessitate any problems. He went on to say, they took his money almost immediately and yet his bill still ran out (Ive had no offences of any kind).

John says he was forced to travel to the rear entrance of TFL's building at 230 Blackfriars Road, and aquire a two week temporary licence which also ran out before they finally issued his renewed bill.

Taxi Leaks Comment:

Why are drivers being forced to attend TfL and pick up a temporary licence, when we've already been informed by Leon Daniels, that in the case of Taxi renewals as regards the Transport Act 1985, your old licence is valid until you receive your renewal. (See Daniels letter below)

Leon Daniels Reply To Taxi Leaks Editor:

On 12th of May 2014, Taxi leaks published an open letter to Sir Peter Hendy. Amongst other issues, we bought his attention to the Transport Act 1985 sec 17(7), which appertained to licence renewal problems being experienced by some drivers.

Part of Sir Peters reply infered that he would have TfL's legal team look into the matter.

5 months later, a reply came back from Leon Daniels.

After much deliberation from TfL's legal team, we received this reply below, signed by Leon Daniels and dated the 30 September 2014.

Dear Mr Thomas,

I refer to your email to Sir Peter Hendy regarding the provisions of section 17(7) of the Transport Act 1985 in relation to taxi drivers renewing their licences. Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing a reply.

As far as is possible we will issue a driver his or her new licence in advance of their old licence expiring.

However, this is dependent on the driver submitting a complete and timely application, which includes the result of the DBS check and any other information that is required, as we cannot make a licensing decision until this information is received.

It is therefore imperative that drivers start the application process in good time to allow for all necessary checks to be completed before their licence expires.

Where we are provided with a complete application, including the results of the DBS check and any other necessary information, but have not yet made a licensing decision before the old one expires, the existing licence will remain in force until a decision is made in accordance with section 17(7). In these circumstances, a driver will not be issued with, nor require, a temporary licence pending a decision being made on their application.

Please note that contrary to the comment in your email, section 17 of the Transport Act 1985 only applies to London taxi driver and vehicle licences, not London private hire vehicle driver licences.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

The result of a pole carried out by Taxi drivers on Twitter available.

It shows a large majority of drivers would rather run their current TX and Merc Vito Taxis into the ground, rather than buy expensive electric replacements which rely on uncertain technology.

It's funny that with all the screams about London's poor air quality, not one word has hit the media, about the Hybrid Buses with faulty batteries currently running around using purely diesel.

We keep being told that it's our dirty Diesel engines, the ones TfL have insisted we buy, that are needlessly killing thousands of Londoners annually.

Funny again, not one word or mention about the fact that the last time buses went on strike for a day, the air quality figures were halved.

Again we see a public body (TfL), refusing to protect public health and safety, bending over backwards to suppress the truth about the dangers emminating from their stakeholder partner bus companys, which in fact are 'private businesses'.

The Germans (yet again) are the brains behind the creation of clean technology for diesel engines (vw debacle aside).

Rudolf Diesel was the German inventor of the engine that bears his name (although he was actually born in paris).

It seems crazy to me why the world wants to simply throw away such a reliable creation which now is currently euro 6 and so low in emission particulates, already reduced by 88% in 6 years... and can still be lowered much further by this continental principle, why on earth we do not allow a natural electrical derived time scale transition principle to make diesel redundant on competitive means and performance levels?

TfL and the Mayor can't be trusted :There is huge concern amongst today's diesel Taxi driver owners that the proverbial rug is going to pulled from beneath us, by way of either lowering current age limits further or introducing emission zone penalties to include them. Both would be unfair and a complete disaster for our trade which is currently freezing out many new or replacement purchases.

The New electric cab/s will not generate the interest many people think -TFL's decided to ban New diesel taxi licensing from January 1st 2018- simply because its too soon and creates complete inertia by not allowing advancement of current levels of far lower emission vehicles on our streets 'and' introducing lower emission technology being fitted to those vehicles let alone supply issues of newer electrical vehicle technology.

In the next 6-9 Months a storm is undoubtedly brewing for Diesel taxi drivers, you only have to look at the classified taxi sales papers and used taxi sales showrooms to see that, TFL need to make its next 5 year plans clear now in age related uncertainty to steady worried owners and allow them to make plans as there really are so many uncertain owners being kept in the dark....as usual.

It is our expectation that is flawed if we expect Corporations to be ethical.

Remember also, TfL are arbitrators of the law, not enablers of a right wing agenda.

Political sycophancy is rife, but few are hellbent on annihilating the livelihoods of 24,000 British workforce to ring-fence pension schemes invested through Black Rock

No question, TfL is the equivalent of the nanny who's sent to protect Damian in the Omen.

They are also afforded statute protection which prevents them from being disbanded.

Government facilitation goes way beyond anything that can be described as complicit. In many ways it is worse than the corruption itself, simply because THEY DON'T HAVE TO DO IT!

The end result will be determined by those least fragmented. Fighting the right fight is a good place to start.

Letter From Paul Coghlan

Rotherham Mk Two

Obtained TfL internal emails show they were annoyed that the met police revealed uber rape statistics to the 'Taxi lobby'. Without first tipping them off.

Normal procedures have apparently now been resumed. This is proof and a blatant example of TFL demanding prior warning and therefore the opportunity to limit any negative PR and media attention about the lack of regulation. This manifests in only one outcome. More young woman raped every week.

They neglected to apply due diligence in 2012 when they licensed them.

They compounded the situation when mayor Johnson was leaned on by No 10 some years later to "leave them alone". In 2017 instead of revoking their license they continue to pander to Uber's demands by hiding rape and sexual assault.

This is another Rotherham, it's obscene as it is criminal and one day it will be in the public domain. Too late for the victims but lessons will be learnt.

Taxi Leaks Extra Comment:

What a week that was!

Last week, emails from FOI requests made by the Real LTDA, were leaked showing top management at TfL were embarrassed, by the results of Met police FOIs. It appeared TfL had been hiding the true facts about Private Hire sexual assaults and rapes from the public and were conspiring to manipulate future Met releases.

News finally hit the nation press:

Uber driver sexual attacks have escalated by 50% to one a week.

TfL shouldn't be embarrassed, they should be suspended while an mediate inquiry is carried out.

Not only did they hide the dangers to vulnerable passengers, alligations emerged that TfL top brass also knew about the fake medicals, fake topographical tests and fake DBS results, but kept quiet for months, well before the story broke in the Sun.

Helen Chapman made repeated statements to the Taxi trade and was adamant that "all private hire drivers have an enhanced DBS check".

Recent exposures show that this in fact was a lie.

Val Shawcross was extremely vocal when on the GLA, now she's been promoted to deputy Mayor, she's suddenly lost her voice and appetite to take Uber on.

Will all the members on the current GLA -who unanimously voted to recommend Uber shouldn't be relicensed- be given plumb jobs by the Mayor if they promise to play death and dumb?

Also last week we saw TfL exerting their authority to protect their own conflict-of-interest re oBikes.

And yet, have a look at the racks of bikes plastered all over Central London.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

On Friday afternoon, the latest TfL scandal hit Twitter. This time it's even more disgusting than previous.

Work carried out by 'the Real LTDA' group, was leaked and within minutes, plastered all over social media.

The emails allegedly show TfL were gravely embarrassed by the Uber sexual attack statistics gained from the Met police by FOI request, which appear to show information given to the trade by TfL, was as we always feared, design to defer from the true facts about the escalation of rapes and sexual assault in Uber vehicles.

Worst of all, TfL seemed to be annoyed they hadn't been given the normal anonymous tip off by the Met.

As if this wasn't enough!!!

We heard this week, that a large number of DBS certificates sent to TfL by a third party on behalf of Uber drivers, are not worth the paper they are printed on as certain information had been left out or changed.

This comes on the back of fake topographical test results and fake medical certificates (both scandals featured in the national press which appeared to have been swiftly swept under the carpet).

Again it would appear that TfL opted for a third party authorised partner (Onfido) to handle Uber's DBS checks, much in the same way they allowed only authorised partners credit card equipment and dash cams in Taxis.

TfL say they no longer accept checks made by Uber's preferred company Onfido, as they are not satisfied all details are being passed on.

I've also been informed there is much more to come, in respect of sexual assaults on passengers of Uber cars, whose journey begins in London but actually finish outside the Met.

These attacks do not show up on the Met stats.

New FOI requests are showing victims of sexual attacks are not specifically limited to vulnerable females. Its alleged that male passengers and children have also been abused and raped.

Taxi Leaks Extra Comment by I'm Spatacus

I won't revisit how long I and some others have been calling for a proper public enquiry, not some toothless report from the GLA (remember your words Val?)

Has Uber got TfL and it seems the government in such a vice like grip that no one and nothing will be allowed to get in the way of the sweatshop and wholesale destruction of a great and proud service?

To any reasoned observer this would seem to so.

Will Wes Streeting, Khan or Shawcrosd speak out on this?

For those deluded into thinking the unlikely prospect of TfL not licensing Uber will make any difference, I suggest you take a trip to Brighton, Stansted or York etc.

The drivers will just licence elsewhere (some authorities don't even ask for a DBS, just a driving licence & £££) and come into town leaving 250 CO's to check how long our lanyards are to justify their pay checks, as they have no powers over out of towners.

No one listened to the editor or yours truly 4 years back and couldn't or wouldn't join together to act before it's too late.

It's too late, it isn't Dunkirk, there won't be the little ships to rescue us, it's the Alamo and that doesn't end well.

Friday, July 28, 2017

Controversial ride-sharing company Uber will not be allowed to operate in Ireland using private cars as it does in other countries.

Currently Irish customers can only book a taxi or limousine through the Uber app rather than a private car.

Uber links passengers with private car owners through an app. It has been described as a “disruptive technology” as it threatens the traditional model of taxi and limousine hire.

In a letter issued through a Freedom of Information request from RTÉ, the NTA said the proposal for a pilot scheme in Limerick that would allow private car users offer their services to passengers through Uber was “undesirable”.

The authority told Uber it was not legal to operate an unlicensed ride sharing serving in Ireland.

It went further to state that, even if such a service was legal, it would not support the Uber proposal. The NTA said operating an unregulated regime would undermine the regulated taxi sector.

The authority told Uber: “Notwithstanding the above legislative position, it should be stated that the NTA is unsupportive of this proposal.

“Operating parallel regulated and non regulated regimes, even on a pilot basis is undesirable in our view and can only serve to undermine the regulated transport system . . . the issue of unfair competition arises. This is not an approach which could be supported by the NTA.”

Although it is legal in countries such as the United States and Britain for Uber to operate through private car owners, many European countries have banned the company from operating such a service.

France, Spain and Belgium are among the European countries that have banned Uber using private drivers over fears over how it would disrupt the regulated taxi industry.

Uber has been mired in controversy since the beginning, and co-founder Travis Kalanickquit his position after allegations of systemic sexual harassment at the company.

The government is due to announce shortly that new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned from 2040. The measure is part of plans to tackle the UK’s air pollution problems. It mirrors the approach being taken by France and other parts of Europe. While tackling air pollution is laudable, the move looks set to throw the UK’s petrol industry into chaos.

The price of clean air

Clean air is obviously a good thing. However, achieving it could have costly economic implications at a time when the UK economy needs careful handling. Car manufacturers can easily adapt to producing electric and hybrid cars.

Many already plan to do so, with BMW being the latest to announce its plans for fully electric vehicles (in this case Minis). Little has been said though, of what will happen to the petrol retail industry when the number of electric vehicles on the UK’s roads rises steeply.

Just under 45 billion litres of road fuel is sold in the UK every year.

That works out at around 77 million litres of diesel and 45 million litres of petrol per day. 2.69 million cars were registered in the UK in 2016, the vast majority of which were petrol and diesel models.

The sudden disappearance of more than 2.5 million customers per year, when all those buying new cars purchase electric models, could very quickly destroy the petrol industry as we know it. If the government has considered this angle, it’s certainly keeping quiet about it thus far.

What about other vehicle types?

The government has also been conspicuously quiet when it comes to plans for other classes of vehicles. Lorries and buses contribute plenty of nitrogen dioxide to our air, yet the government seems to be pushing the responsibility to tackle those out to local authorities.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has stated, “What we’re saying to local authorities is come up with an imaginative solution to these proposals.” This puts the ball firmly in the court of local councils when it comes to tackling pollution from public transport. The government will dish out some £200m in funding to those local authorities, which will need to focus on tackling the worst polluted roads through measures such as making buses less polluting, changing road layouts and re-shaping traffic flows.

Is a rethink needed?

While it’s good to see the government finally on the brink of announcing its plans to tackle air pollution, is the industry missing a trick by ignoring recently announced technological advances relating to the cleanliness of diesel.

Could it be that the emissions testing scandal vilified diesel to such an extent that the government is unwilling to shout about developments such as Continental’s Super Clean Electrified Diesel technology, which reduces real world emissions by some 60%?

Surely it would be more sensible to make it compulsory to retrofit super diesel technology into all diesel cars by 2025, for example. Such a plan could provide a serious head-start on tackling air pollution, with other measures still able to follow in due course.

What’s missing from the government’s plans?

Glaringly absent from the government’s plans is the much-anticipated diesel scrappage scheme.

Ministers are believed to be due to consider such a scheme in the autumn, but any firm commitment to do so has been lacking. The possibility of local council diesel scrappage schemes has also been mentioned – a clear sign that the government wants to distance itself from paying any kind of compensation to diesel drivers who feel let down by the U-turn in approach to their vehicles.

Also in doubt are plans for ‘clean air zones’ within cities. When pressed on the issue of charging drivers of high polluting vehicles, Michael Gove commented,

“I don’t believe that it is necessary to bring in charging, but we will work with local authorities in order to determine what the best approach is.”

Again, it seems that central government is keen to sidestep the issue and push it out to local councils to deal with. Could it be that, even with the pressure to produce detailed plans to tackle air pollution by the 31 July deadline, and the announcement of plans to ban new diesel and petrol cars by 2040, the government is still unwilling to tackle the issue head on?

Do you think of the government’s plan to ban petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040 is the right move? Or should there be more of an effort to embrace newer, cleaner technologies to reduce emissions instead?

Bad news for Singapore-based startup oBike, which have bought their dock less bike hire platform to London's streets.

Cycling czar Will Norman said that "oBikes Showed up in London without consulting anyone".

The Singapore-based firm is alleged to have used Uber's "disruptive" business model of swooping into a city, and dealing with local regulations later.

But while oBike's attempted to propel the 'bike sharing revolution' in the UK capital, not all were pleased when around 400 yellow bikes showed up on the streets.

The company has now been ordered by TfL to remove thousands of bikes from the street. Hypocracy in full action from to regulator that bent over backwards to smooth the way for Uber's disruption of the Taxi and Privat Hire industry.

TfL said they had no idea Obikes had started operating in London and were furious when they found out.

The company from Singapore say they want to transform cycling in the capital and are disappointed

According to Hammersmith & Fulham council, bikes were left obstructing footpaths and creating potential hazards for pedestrians throughout the borough -similar to the way Boris bikes replaced parking spaces and Taxi ranks.

The difference with oBikes, if ones in your way, you can just move it aside....unlike TFL's bikes that are fixed instationary docking stations.

It seems that although H&F are positive about cycling in the borough, it appears they don't trust the cyclist users to use the cycles in a responsible manner.

"We're really positive about cycling in H&F ... But these bikes appeared without any consultation at all with H&F council.

Plus we have concerns about the way they had been placed on the streets, and protecting the health and safety of people in the borough," said the council in a statement.

“We're very much in favour of cycling,” said councillor Stephen Cowan, leader of Hammersmith & Fulham council.

“But we expect companies to properly consult with us first. This launch could have been much better thought out.”

Let's also not forget that

• No license or permits have been paid for...

• No street space has been rented for pick-up, drop-off stations...

• No contract for infrastructure has been placed with one of TFL's authorised construction partners...

So it seems TfL and H&F council are not happy about a foreign company, who allegedly don't pay tax in this country -or abide by no local regulations- have set up an operation that has challenged Boris Bikes/Santander, undercutting by using disruptive technology.

Hypocrisy to say the least.

oBike have agreed to temporarily remove the cycles and said it will meet with TfL and local councils to discuss ways to make the cycle scheme work.

Feryal Demirci, cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, Transport and Parks in Hackney, added that Hackney welcomes any scheme that makes it easier and cheaper for residents to cycle, but it was disappointed that oBike had not contacted the council first.

"We want to enter into a dialogue with companies to agree the way bike share schemes should work in the same way that we do for car clubs," she said.

oBike aims to Undercut the price of Transport for London's Santander Cycles, formerly known as Boris Bikes -which are part funded by the taxpayer.

The startup company charges users a deposit of £49 with rates of 50p for a 30-minute ride.

As corporal Jones said in Dads Defending Daughters Army "They don't like it up em sir !!!"

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Bloomberg and Recode had reported that she was on the short list for the CEO spot, but she took to Twitter to make it clear that it’s not happening.

In a three-part tweet, she concluded that the “rumors” have “become a distraction,” so she wants everyone to know that “she’s not going anywhere.” She emphasized that “Uber’s CEO will not be Meg Whitman.”

(3/3) We have a lot of work still to do at HPE and I am not going anywhere. Uber's CEO will not be Meg Whitman.

Until early 2019, work is taking place to convert Baker Street and Gloucester Place to two-way traffic. During this time there will be changes to the road layout on these roads, between Park Road and Portman Square. For more details, please visit tfl.gov.uk/baker-street-roadworks. Additionally, there are lane restrictions on Baker Street southbound at the junction of Marylebone Road until mid-November, for Thames Water works.

Vauxhall:From 21:30 on Friday 28, until 06:00 on Monday 31 July there will be lane closures on South Lambeth Road southbound at the junction of Harleyford Road. This is for a crane operation

English language requirementThe deadline for new or renewal private hire driver’s licence applicants to provide evidence of their ability to comply with the English language requirement has been extended from 30 September 2017 to 16 July 2018. Please click here for more information

Taxi rank locations now available to app developersWe are now publishing information about taxi ranks, including locations and operating hours, in our API, which means this information can be used by developers in apps. For example, customers can now search for their nearest rank in Apple Maps. Ranks listed include the new ranks at UCL Hospital Beaumont Place, DoubleTree Hotel in Kingston, and Hither Green Station (Fernbrook Road).

OnRouteThe latest issue of OnRoute magazine features articles about our compliance resources, RideLondon, how you can help stop human trafficking, and much more. Read it now here

Space for cyclistsTo improve cyclist and driver safety, officers from the Met Roads and Transport Policing Command are undertaking a new tactic. Officers from the team will be patrolling in plain clothes, wearing video cameras and riding unmarked bicycles, to identify and deal with the offences that most deter people from cycling. Driving and cycling safety advice is available here

Waterloo proposalsWe’re consulting on changes around Waterloo. The consultation closes on 20 August and you can find details here

Draft Mayor’s Transport StrategyThe draft Mayor's Transport Strategy sets out his plans to transform London's streets, improve public transport and create opportunities for new homes and jobs. Our public consultation on these plans is open until 2 October 2017.

Camden Town Station We’re consulting on improvements to Camden Town Station. This follows a consultation in January 2017 on development above and around the proposed new station exit. The consultation closes on 18 August and you can find the new consultation here

BatterseaWe would like your views on a number of proposed changes to the layout of Nine Elms Lane and Battersea Park Road. This consultation will run until Sunday 20 August. You can find full details of the proposals and respond to the consultation here

Charlie Brown’s RoundaboutWe’re consulting on proposed change to Charlie Brown’s roundabout. The consultation is open until 4 August and you can find it here

Passengers of ComfortDelGro taxis can now choose to pay for their fare using a quick response (QR) code, in a tie-up between the taxi company and DBS Bank.

Passengers just need to scan the QR code on the taxi’s cashless payment terminal and the app will automatically process the payment. (Photo: ComfortDelGro)

This is the first time QR code payment – a type of barcode read by devices – is being introduced for taxis in Singapore, DBS said in a press release on Thursday (Jul 27).

Starting Aug 10, users of the bank’s mobile wallet DBS PayLah can scan the QR code on the cashless payment terminal of any of the 16,000 ComfortDelGro taxis, and the app will automatically process the payment.

ComfortDelGro taxi CEO Ang Wei Neng said the move is part of the company's plan to provide more cashless and more convenient payment options for passengers.

"Cashless transactions account for one-fifth of all our taxi trips. We expect its volume to grow steadily as passengers become more accustomed to paying using such payment modes,” he added.

DBS said it has witnessed "a dramatic shift" in the behaviour of consumer's payments, who are becoming more inclined to cashless payments and withdrawing lower amounts of cash from ATMs.

Between June 2016 and June this year, the number of DBS PayLah transactions and payment volume more than doubled, DBS said

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Came across this post on FaceBook this afternoon, from one of our ladies on the Save Black Taxis Group.

Michele writes:

I've recently signed up to a weekly email on money man Martin Lewis FaceBook Page.

This was in his email this week about using Uber!

I have left comment on Martins latest FaceBook post.

Taxi Leaks Comment :

This allegation is a surprising turn of events from Martin as he has always been seen as a supporter and user of Taxis, and was in fact photographed supporting the Save Black Taxi group.

This email is also surprising because Martin is a husband and father who surely should be concerned more with public safety than sheer cheapness.

Or this this another case as just do as I say not as I do?

Through this email, it would appear that Martin is recommending an unsafe night service whose record of passengers, seriously sexually assaulted by the driver, has escalated by 50% this year (according to a Freedom of Information request made to the Metropolitan Police)?

Taxi Leaks' question to Martin Lewis:

Martin, would you really advise you wife, mother, sister, niece etc to use Uber to get home after reading about Uber's record of serious sexual assaults including rapes, plus their terrible driving standards seen daily on social media?

Uber's record of road traffic collisions is horrendous

Add to that the surging at peak times, also not mentioned in the email.